Early Chinese writing began with the Shang Dynasty using symbols on oracle bones that resembled the things they represented. Over time, writing developed further by being inscribed on bronze vessels in a script called Greater Seal. Modern Chinese writing has simplified and stylized these characters, though they no longer precisely depict their meanings like the original symbols. While ancient Chinese writing represented ideas pictorially, modern English uses an alphabetic system with letters signifying sounds rather than meanings.

1. Writing In Ancient China and Today